Stretcher for seriously wounded



y 1950 J. GOMELSKI 2,514,128

STRETCHER FOR SERIOUSLY WOUNDED Filed Aug. 8, 1947 Patented July 4, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 8, 1947, Serial No.

In France March 20, 1944 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946' Patent expires March 20, 1964 1 Claim. 1

When a seriously wounded man has to be lifted up and put on a stretcher, any movement of the limbs will unavoidably cause him acute pain. Very often such twistings of a badly lacerated body constitute an additional grave threat to his ultimate recovery and even to his life.

My invention has the object of eradicating these risks in every possible way, and the bearing surface of the stretcher is split up into two side panels which may be drawn apart so that they may slide on each side under, the wounded person. In this way the stretcher may accommodate itself to the ground on which the wounded man is stretched out, so that he is not subjected to any appreciable movement. Practical tests have been made and showed that a slight slope, inwards of the two sections or panels fulfilled the purpose even on rough rocky ground without any hindrance on the part of the mans clothes. In the case of a hollow in the ground that might prevent the two panels from being brought under the wounded, the stiff linkup between the panels and the frame of the stretcher may be cut out. The panels then swing freely round the lifting arms of the stretcher thus allowing more slope to be given to the panels that may then be brought round the stretched-out body. It is clear that the same Way of working will allow the wounded to be placed on a bed or operating table in an even more gentle manner than when he was picked up.

The accompanying drawing gives a sketch of a form of execution with the stretcher in the open position i. c. with the panels spaced apart.

The panels or flaps l and 2 are attached so as to be able to turn on the lifting arms 3 and 4. Two cross-pieces of adjustable length are each formed of a rod 5, the ends of which slide in two sleeves 6 and I that are fixed rigidly with the lifting arms 3 and 4. On the other hand, the panels are interlocked with the four sleeves 6 and 1 by a standard locking means, illustrated by way of example as constituted by four hooks 8 hinged on sleeves 6 and 1 and the four rods 9 rigid with panels I and 2. If the parts 8 and 9 are unhooked, the panels may be lowered by turning around the arms 3 and 4 for engaging a hollow in the ground. When they are hooked up, the inward slope of the panels ranges between 5" and 10.

Once the stretcher is closed under the wounded, with the crosspiece in its retracted position, it is locked in this position in any standard way, for instance by catching the hooks H, hinged on sleeves 6, on the studs l0 fixed rigidly with sleeves 1. At the same time, if necessary, locking is completed between panels I and 2 on the one hand and sleeves 6 and 1 on the other hand, by hooks 8 and rods 9 as disclosed.

Two of the four legs I 2 are shown in their lowered position and are of use when the stretcher is put down somewhere and two are in the raised position so as not to hamper the picking up of the wounded. The attachment point of and the collapsing means for these legs may be designed in any suitable way. In the form of execution shown in the drawing, the legs are hinged around axes M on the lifting bars or arms 4 and are kept fastened in either of their two possible posltions by eye-bolts l3 that pass through a side extension of the leg and are inserted, forthe lowered foot position in a hole arranged for this purpose in the lifting arms. For the retracted foot position, the eye-bolts I3 merely rest on the upper side of the lifting arms.

What I claim is:

A stretcher for wounded comprising in combination two lifting arms, two sleeves arranged at right angles to each of said arms and carried thereby, two guide rods adapted to slidingly fit within the corresponding sleeves of each arm, flaps hinged on the lifting arms and having a width substantially equal to the length of the sleeves, interengaging studs and hooks on the free ends of the flaps and on the sleeves for securing temporarily the flaps in their operative position with reference to the lifting arms and hooking means on the inner free ends of the sleeves adapted to engage one another for holding the sleeves and flaps in their closed position.

JOSEPH GOMELSKI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,983,889 Anderson Dec. 11, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 332,865 GreatBritain July 31, 1930 

